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Copyright 1994 by the Christian Research Institute.
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"What's New In The Headlines" and "CRI Serving Hispanic Believers
with Spanish-Language Resources" (articles from the Headline News
and International columns of the Christian Research Newsletter,
Volume 6: Number 5, 1993) by Ron Rhodes and Paul Carden.
The editor of the Christian Research Newsletter is Ron
Rhodes.
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*Televangelist Robert Tilton's Television Show Goes Off the Air.*
The September 30, 1993 _San Jose Mercury News_ reports that TV
evangelist Robert Tilton is going off the air, blaming damage done
to his ministry by allegations that he took his followers' money
and threw out their prayer requests. Tilton's lawyer, J. C. Joyce,
said "the church's income is $1 million to $2 million per month,
down from about $7 million before ABC leveled the allegations in a
_PrimeTime Live_ expose two years ago."
According to the article, "the ABC report alleged that Tilton
never prayed personally over each letter, as promised, and that a
processing company in Tulsa threw out prayer requests after
contributions were deposited in the bank."
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The October 13, 1993 _Los Angeles Times_ reports that "after
decades of feuding, the Internal Revenue Service has granted the
Church of Scientology and more than 150 of its corporate entities
tax-exempt status, ruling that they are charitable, religious
organizations entitled to be free from federal income taxes."
The _Times_ notes that the exemptions were granted as part of
a larger agreement between the IRS and Scientology. "They are
thought to be worth millions of dollars to Scientology, which
requires fixed donations for its progression of courses aimed at
unburdening parishioners of spiritually traumatic past
experiences."
The exemptions come after some 40 years of bitter fighting
between Scientology and the IRS. "The government has long
recognized Scientology as a religion. But it has consistently
denied tax-exempt status to the myriad corporate entities that
comprise the church's sprawling empire, contending that those
organizations were operating primarily as businesses and that their
money was being used for the private benefit of top Scientology
leaders, including Hubbard." David Miscavige, Scientology's top
official, said that with these exemptions, "Our road to infinite
expansion is now wide open."
The _Times_ points out that followers of Scientology were once
called "students," and Hubbard's teachings were known as "courses."
Now, Scientology followers are known as "parishioners," and
teachings are described as "sacred scriptures."
Hubbard is quoted as once telling his followers that religion
is "basically a philosophic teaching designed to better the
civilization into which it is taught....A Scientologist has a
better right to call himself a priest, a minister, a missionary, a
doctor of divinity, a faith healer, or a preacher than any other
man who bears the insignia of religion in the Western World."
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*The Christian Science Church's Claim to $100 Million Is
Tentatively Settled.*
The Christian Science church has agreed to share a conditional
bequest of $100 million with two rivals for the money. Eloise Knapp
and her sister Bella Mabury, both of whom died over twenty years
ago, left the money to the church on the condition that it publish
a biography of its founder, Mary Baker Eddy, written by Mrs.
Knapp's husband.
At first the church refused to publish the book -- _The Destiny
of the Mother Church_ -- on the grounds that it portrayed Mrs. Eddy
as a divine figure who fulfilled biblical prophecy. This idea is
considered heretical by many Christian Scientists.
Under the terms of the sisters' wills, if the church failed to
publish the book and distribute it to the 2,500 Christian Science
reading rooms around the country by 1993, the money would be
divided between Stanford University and the Los Angeles County
Museum of Art.
The October 14, 1993 _New York Times_ reports that under an
agreement filed on October 12 in Los Angeles County Superior Court,
"the church would receive 53 percent of the bequest, while the
university and the museum would each receive 23.5 percent. The
accord requires court approval, and a hearing is scheduled for
December 14."
The article also reports that "the Christian Science Publishing
Society published Mr. Knapp's book in 1991. But Stanford and the
museum challenged the church's claim to the bequest, saying that it
had not fulfilled all of the sisters' requirements, including
giving the book its official seal of authorization. They also
argued that there was no way the church could guarantee that the
book would be available in all its reading rooms."
The settlement notes that the third printing of the book bears
the church's "authorized literature" label. However, in a statement
the church was more ambivalent, calling the biography a "subjective
and personal literary form" that was not necessarily "an accurate
primary source regarding the teachings of Christian Science."
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*CRI Serving Hispanic Believers with Spanish-Language Resources*
With over 20 million Spanish speakers in the United States --
not to mention over two million Mormons, nearly one million
Jehovah's Witnesses, and great numbers being seduced by the
heretical Faith movement and a host of other sects in Latin America
-- what are Christians to do?
To meet this growing need for sound Spanish-language materials
on the cults, the occult, aberrant theology, and discernment, CRI
International offers an increasing variety of resources for
teaching and evangelism.
Hank Hanegraaff's devastating expose of the Faith movement,
_Christianity in Crisis,_ is now available in Spanish from CRI for
just $11 each, plus shipping and handling (order item #B-139SP).
CRI also offers Spanish-language books on Mormonism, Jehovah's
Witnesses, and the New Age movement by Walter Martin.
Tracts, fact sheets, videos, and a variety of articles
translated from the _Christian Research Journal_ and _Christian
Research Newsletter_ are also available. Topics include Roman
Catholicism, Oneness Pentecostalism, the Faith movement, Mormonism,
Jehovah's Witnesses, the Mind Sciences, the New Age movement,
apologetics, cult evangelism, atheism, and sound doctrine.
To receive an updated listing of CRI's resources in Spanish,
just write and request item #DS-220 (in English) or DS-220SP (in
Spanish).
As CRI explores new ways of broadening its Spanish-language
outreach, we would value your prayers -- and input! Call us with
your comments and suggestions for improving this dimension of our
ministry at (714) 855-9926, ext. 690 (for Spanish speakers), or
ext. 691 (for English speakers), 24 hours a day. We look forward to
hearing from you!
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*_Kingdom of the Cults_ in Russian Available*
CRI International now has a limited supply of the
difficult-to-obtain Russian-language edition of Walter Martin's
_The Kingdom of the Cults_ for mission groups going to the former
Soviet Union. Copies are $10 each (order item #B-001RU).
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*Need Foreign Language Resources?*
For a free, updated list of CRI's foreign language materials --
including items in Portuguese, French, and Russian -- write us and
request item #DF-020.
-- _Paul Carden_
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End of document, CRN0071A.TXT (original CRI file name),
"What's New In The Headlines" and "CRI Serving Hispanic Believers
with Spanish-Language Resources"
release A, July 15, 1994
R. Poll, CRI
(A special note of thanks to Bob and Pat Hunter for their help in
the preparation of this ASCII file for BBS circulation.)
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